Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com, January 25, 2013 By: Aaron Sankin An environmental group has filed suit against the state of California for doing what it deemed an insufficient job of regulating the controversial process of hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking.” In a complaint filed in Alameda County Superior Court earlier this week, the Arizona-based Center For Biological Diversity […]

Source: The Landmark, January 24, 2013 By: Phyllis Booth Princeton has joined other Massachusetts school districts in a class action lawsuit involving PCBs in school buildings. Princeton’s involvement in the suit concerns the PCBs at Thomas Prince School. At their Jan. 14 meeting, selectmen voted to authorize Town Administrator John Lebeaux to engage the New […]

Source: http://bostonglobe.com, October 4, 2012 By: Brock Parker Lexington has filed a lawsuit in federal court seeking damages on behalf of itself and other Massachusetts school districts affected by potentially harmful levels of chemicals known as PCBs. The suit, against Pharmacia Corp., Solutia Inc., and Monsanto Co., claims the makers of polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs, […]

Source: http://articles.courant.com, November 2, 2012 By: Christopher Hoffman The developer seeking to build luxury homes on Cedar Mountain agreed in June to pay a $741,000 penalty to resolve more than 600 alleged violations of the federal Clean Water Act nationwide. Toll Brothers, one of the nation’s largest homebuilders, allegedly failed over a period of years […]

Source: Shelby County Reporter (Alabama), October 25, 2012 By: Amy Jones A Shelby County couple is suing Riverchase United Methodist Church after environmental violations that happened while the church was building an addition resulted in the couple’s lake being polluted. Randy and Mary Harper live adjacent to the church, and the couple claims their 4-acre […]

A contractor renovated the interior of a residential house built in the 1950s. The renovation involved paint removal from interior walls, window trim and door jambs. During the course of renovation, the contractor used a plastic barrier to seal the areas he was working in. The homeowners continued to occupy the house during renovations. Additionally, […]

Source: Huffington Post, San Francisco, CA, April 23, 2012 By: Aaron Sankin An internal memo recently handed over by PG&E to state regulators shows that the company had known about weld failures on the pipeline running underneath San Bruno for over twenty years before it exploded into a destructive fireball in 2010. In 1988, PG&E […]

Read here about a Pennsylvania sewage spill that occurred after workers accidentally drilled through a concrete pipe.

Source: Rockhill Environmental/NECC Newsletter A utility contractor was subject to clean-up costs after vandals opened an on-site mobile refueling tank causing diesel fuel to be released onto virgin soil.

Source: Rockhill Environmental/NECC Newsletter A utility contractor left an unfinished concrete vault open over the weekend. Heavy rains washed away sediment controls allowing sand and silt to be released from the unfinished vault into the adjacent bay. The contractor was subsequently fined by a regulatory agency for natural resource damage resulting from the release of sediments […]

Source: Rockhill Environmental/NECC Newsletter A street and road contractor was hired to re-pave a 25-mile section of highway. During the project, one of the contractor’s dump trucks accidentally backed into and ruptured a mobile refueling tank. 300 gallons of diesel fuel was released onto the surface and migrated into a nearby storm drain.

Source: Rockhill Environmental/NECC Newsletter Inadequate erosion control measures implemented during construction of an abutment for a highway overpass resulted in petroleum -impacted sediment to be deposited into a pristine waterway. The street and road contractor was required to pay for clean-up costs and natural resource damages.